We've seen all manner of ways to propose marriage, from the usual candlelit dinner to the Jumbotron at the big game. A friend of ours recently proposed with his a barbershop quartet singing backup. But this has to be a new one – and one that automotive enthusiasts would probably find even more touching than a sky-writing biplane.

The next-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata will have a sibling, but it won't be a Mazda, it will be an Alfa Romeo. The Japanese automaker has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Alfa parent Fiat to co-develop a roadster based on the MX-5 platform that is expected to see production in Mazda's Hiroshima factory, with the Alfa version coming in 2015.